ABSTRACT
Establishment of one's own identity to oneself is as important in interaction as to establish it for the other. The consequences of motivational imputation for interaction in the hospital are impressive. Face-to-face interaction is a fluid, moving, "'running" process; during its course the participants take successive stances vis-a-vis each other. Fantasy, like reasoned thought or impulsive action, can be regarded as taking place within a context of interaction: it arises out of and has consequences for the encounters among people. It is useful to visualize interaction as both structured, in the sense that the participants represent social positions; and at the same time as not quite so structured. In certain kinds of interaction, the participants know beforehand the several sorts of status that will be represented; and, as in religious rituals, even the exact chronological ordering of action. The consequence of status-forcing for personal identity is an exceedingly complicated matter.
